4 free online budgeting sites worth a look

Most people hate budgeting, but some free online resources can help take the pain out of the process.

Mint.com, mvelopes.com,money.Strands.com and Budgetpulse.com to name four — take most of the painstaking work out of it. You don’t have to save every receipt or call up the utility to see how much you’ve paid this year. All of that information is categorized for you – things like food, clothing and your child’s education. You can also keep an eye on your mortgage and car loan too.

When I set up a Mint account, I was shocked to see how much we were spending on takeout. I always knew that we were probably ordering too many times a week, but until I saw the taunting green lines jutting out of the “spending by category” chart, I didn’t really know just how much.

That’s a common reaction, says Ken Sun, group product manager at Mint, who says surveys of Mint users show that the program helps people changed their financial habits.

“That self awareness leads to better self control,” he says.

Shona Bertrand, a Toronto financial advisor, says online budgeting sites have helped her clients too. When she asks them to sort out all their bills, to see where they’re spending, she recommends they use an online site rather than sifting through receipts.

She says many are resistant to giving it a try, but that could be because people just don’t like budgeting no matter which way they do it. Once they take the plunge, they only have good things to say about the online process. “They do like doing it this way,” she says. “It’s fairly intuitive and it’s effective without being too complicated.”

The beauty of many of these programs is you can also create budgets and receive an email alert or mobile push notification when you’ve overspent and when a bank fee is charged to your account. I find the fee alerts especially handy.

When I first started using Mint, I mostly checked it online at home, but now I find myself reviewing my spending habits on my phone at the store. Sun says that about 75 of Mint customers check in with a phone or tablet.

While all the on-the-go financial updates can get annoying, Bertrand says budgeting apps are a good thing. “You can integrate your financial habits into daily life better,” she says. “Having these tools with you all the time makes it easier to be proactive about your personal financial management.”

Bertrand thinks more people will gravitate to these online sites and apps too — there’s really no easier way to get a look at your total financial picture.

I have to agree. While these sites aren’t perfect — I sometimes have to move things from one category to the next and find out where money in Mint’s “uncategorized” category was spent — Mint has helped me see exactly where my money is being spent.

I still have work to do when it comes to budgeting, but now that I don’t have to rifle through paper bills, I actually enjoy seeing where my money is going.

3 web site to try

• Mint.com This site, owned by Quicken creator Intuit, is one of the best budgeting sites around. Connect bank, mortgage, car and other accounts and see where your money is going. Set budgets, get overspending alerts and more.

• Mvelops.com This site offers much of the same functionality as Mint, but it costs money to use. It does encourage saving in a different way— it focuses on the envelope approach —and it has some useful extras, such as a debt calculator and message board support.

• Budgetpulse.com This program is similar to the others, but you have to manually upload, via an excel file, your information. There are two unique features: you can share your financial goals with friends and get others to contribute money to your savings.